By Peter Hamby and Ashley Killough, CNN
(CNN) — Actor Clint Eastwood joined the list of Republicans signing a legal brief in support of same-sex marriage, a person familiar with the document confirmed Thursday.
Eastwood has previously lamented the idea of “making a big deal out of gay marriage,” but he’s now joining a chorus of high-profile Republicans that want the Supreme Court to rule in favor of same-sex couples who want to legally wed.
Next month, the high court will hear two separate oral arguments on challenges to Proposition 8, the voter-approved same-sex marriage ban in California, as well as the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a 1996 congressional law that says for federal purposes, marriage is defined as only between one man and one woman.
At least 100 Republicans have signed onto the amicus brief, including a number of top officials from the George W. Bush administration, Mitt Romney’s former campaign manager, and former GOP presidential candidate Jon Huntsman.
While Eastwood has stated support for same-sex marriage in the past, the actor has also publicly chastised efforts to make hay out of the debate, saying there are more important issues to tackle.
In a 2011 interview with GQ magazine, Eastwood said he personally doesn’t “give a f*** about who wants to get married to anybody else” and added that the country is wasting time on the debate.
“We’re making a big deal out of things we shouldn’t be making a deal out of,” he said. “They go on and on with all this bulls**t about ‘sanctity’-don’t give me that sanctity crap. Just give everybody the chance to have the life they want.”
Eastwood, who served as a high-profile surrogate for Romney last year, re-emphasized his stance on same-sex marriage during an interview on Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show in 2012
“(It’s) part of the libertarian idea: Leave everybody alone,” he said.
He continued: “The condition of society right now, with the high unemployment rates and the tremendous debt we’re increasing and the government spending, we’d think there’d be a lot to think about (rather) that worrying about gay marriage,” he said on the show.
While it’s unclear how much sway the legal brief will have with the Supreme Court justices, Eastwood’s signature on the document could be his latest step in saying it’s time to close this chapter and move on.
Breitbart first reported the story.
